Transparent printed wrapper and method of making the same



June '1937. GURwjCK 2,084,026

TRANSPARENT PRINTED WRAPPER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME original FiledMay 12. 1932 T d g4 Z8 g8 Z6 25 24 l INVEN-rol? "rvmg Gqvwlck ATTORN EYSPatented June l5, ld?

aoaoae TRANSPARENT PRIN'ED vii i METHOD F MA igt@ Ware

This invention relates to printed sheets or Wrappers made of transparentregenerated cellulose paper, and to a method for making the same.

A type of sheet or wrapper for packaging goods for visible display andsale which has proved to be exceedingly popular in recent years is atransparent cellulose paper made, for example, from regeneratedcellulose. This paper is lustrous and perfectly transparent, and isgrease-proof, that is,

F0 non-absorbent with respect to oil or grease, but tends to behygroscopic and to absorb moisture unless Water-proofed by coating thesame with a water-proof coating such as transparent lacquer.

Typical examples of the transparent paper here referred to are theproducts commercially sold and known under the trade names cellophaneand Sylphwrap.

The present invention centers generally about certain discoveries andimprovements which I 2O have made in printing or/ and tinting such paperwith transparent ink or color, and to methods for using transparentcolors on the said transparent paper, as well as the products resultingfrom the same.

One object of the present invention resides in the provision of a blankor wrapper for packaging goods, which blank or wrapper will betransparent even thoughprinted or/and tinted, thereby eX- posing theWrapped goods for examination and 30 in many cases enhancing theattractive appear' ance thereof by reason of the color applied to thewrapper.

Tinted sheets of transparent cellulose paper have already been made bythe manufacturers of4 such paper, but this is done by dyeing thematerial `of the paper during its manufacture. The process is elaborateand expensive and must be practiced on a Very large scale; so that onlya few" standard. 'colors are available and even these are not madeunless ordered in very sillostantial quantities. A more particularobject of the present invention is to overcome the foregoing dicultiesand to provide a method for tinting any desired small quantity oi thesaid transparent paper with any preferred tint or shade of color bestadapted to the uses oi? any particular purchaser.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of sheets orWrappers which will not adhere one to another when compressed in stackedrelation, so that the same will be suitable for use with the automaticfeed mechanism oi wrapping machines and the like. A still further objectof my invention is to improve the resist- 55 ance to moisture oftransparent paper, as afore- Application May 12, 1932, Serial No. @M

Renewed November 7, 1936 ter about the printing or/and tinting of atransparent sheet or wrapper in a plurality of colors,

and more particularly are to make possiblethe printing of the sheet witha plurality of colors,

each retaining its true color value; to retain the transparency of thesheet; and to retain the luster and brilliancy of the individual colorswithout-- darkening or blackening of the same by subtrace tion oicolors.

Further objects of my invention center about the use of transparent inkfor printing on a dii-A ferently colored background, and moreparticularly are to retain the simplicity or registration afforded bycolor on color printing, while at the same time obtaining a desiredbrilliance and depth of the matter printed on the background; to providea background `which will not be marred in"v appearance when wrappedabout an oit-bearing article; to provide a brilliant andlustrous colorfor printed matter even when printed on a metallic background; and, ineach of the above cases, to make possible the tinting o the bulk or mainbody of the sheet or 'wrapper exclusive of the described printedbackground.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, my

invention consists in the method and products resulting therefrom, andthe elements of each as well as their relation one to the other, asherein aiter are more particularlydescribed in the speelcation andsought to he defined in the elaine-3.*

The specication is accompanied by a drawing in which:

Fig. i is a plan view oi a printed and tinted wrapper embodying featuresof my invention:

Fig. 2 is a plan view o1 a sheet at one stage in the process ofmanufacture;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a sheet at a later stage in the process oimanufacture;

Fig. e is a section taken in the plane of the line liin Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section similar to Fig. showing a modification othe invention; and

Fig, 6 is a section through a portion of a tinted previouslywater-proofed sheet.

cellulose paper made, for example, from regenerated cellulose paper islustrous, transparent, and ordinarily colorless. This paper has alsobeen tinted, but only during manufacture, and, because of obviousmanufacturing dificulties and because of the large scale of the'manufacturing operations inv0lved,fthe paper has been provided in onlya limited number of standardized tints or shades of color which 1o mustbe ordered and purchased in large quantities. I have discovered that thedesired fully transparent yet tinted color effect may be obtained bycoating an already manufactured sheet of transparent cellulose paperwith a layer or coating of transparent ink. The ink may be a resin orlike gum color, but is preferably a lacquer color, particularly onewhich will dry bone-dry at a low temperature, say, '70 F. The sheet ispreferably printed by an intaglio printing cylinder, and the color isthen preferably dried by a high velocity blast of air, as is describedin my copending application Serial No. f 361,584 entitled Intaglioprinting and filed May Si, 1929, which application now has issued asPatent No. 1,867,405.

- I have found that when using a transparent color or ink for thispurpose, the sheet retains all of its desirable luster and transparency,and yet is tinted in a manner fully comparable with the tinting obtainedby dyeing the material during manufacture. In addition, my method oftinting the sheet possesses manifold advantages, for the sheet may beprinted with any Ydesired shade of color; a limited -quantity ofwrappers 35 may be printed; and the tinting instead of being a solidbody cf color may, if desired, be grained or mottled or otherwisealtered by engraving of the intaglio printing cylinder used to apply thecolor, in the desired manner.' Part only instead 4,0 of all of the sheetmay be tinted, i; e., anl untlnted Window, or border, may be left in thewrapper.

A further advantage obtained by the practice of my method is that thelacquer color applied to the surfaceof the sheet is water-proof andgreatly increases the resistance to moisture of the sheet. In thisconnection it may be mentioned that transparent regenerated cellulosepaper of the so-called water-proofed type consists simply of an ordinarysheet of transparent paper coated on both sides with a thin layer ofcolorless lacquer. It is evident that when my method oi' tinting thesheet is employed, the sheet is water-proofed on one side, andconsequently when an article such as a candy bar or the like is fullywrapped up in the sheet, a non-hygroscopic and substantially water-proofprotection of the article is provided. Furthermore, the water-proof ornon-hygroscopic coating provided by the transparent surface tinting ofmy invention prevents the sheets from adhering one to the other whenthey are stacked. As is pointed out in greater detail in my copendingapplication Serial No. 600,415 to Wrapper and method of making the same,filed March 22, 1932, which has matured into Patent No. 1,935,708, Nov.2l, 1933, despite the popularity of transparent cellulose Wrappers,considerable diihculty has arisen in attempting to use the same withautomatic Wrapping machines and the like because the sheets tend toadhere one tof-the other due to their hygroscopic nature and consequentabsorption of moisture. The automatic feed mechanisms of Wrappingmachines and the like are incapable of separating aoegoee sheets whichtend to adhere, and it is therefore essential that the sheets be readilyseparable and slidable one on the other. It `ivill be evident that whenthe wrappers are tinted in accordance with the present invention, ashiny non-hygroscopic surface is presented between each of thesuccessive sheets, thereby fully and successfully solving the problem inquestion without resort- I ing to the particular solution of the sameset forth in'my Patent No. 1,935,708 previously referred to.

Still another advantage of my method of tintlng transparent paperresides in the fact that it is equally vwell applicable whether thepaper is of the ordinary kind or of the more expensive water-proofedkind. The water-proofed paper is relatively costly, and yet large'quantiiiesrare frequently discarded because of imperfections in thepaper or in the water-proofing coating applied thereto, suchimperfections arising by reason of warping, stretching, and inequalitiesin the web of paper during the water-proofing operation. Such paper ifcolored or tinted may be usefully applied for a variety of purposes, butno such salvagehas heretofore been accomplished for the reason that theordinary tinting processes cannot be resorted to because, among otherthings, of the water-proof coating on the paper. Thus, referring to Fig.6 of the drawing, a sheet of transparent cellulose paper is indicated at32, this sheet being coated on both surfaces with a layer ofwater-proofing material, say, colorless lacquer, indicated at 34.However, such sheets may be tinted by my process without difficulty and,in fact, interchangeably with the regular transparent paper, as isindicated by the coating or layer 36 of transparent color, shown inFig-6. Of course, all of the advantages previously outlined as regardsthe printing of a relatively small quantity of wrappers with any desiredspecial shade or tint are equally valuable in connection with thewaterproofed paper, so that the purchaser in addition to being offeredfull latitude in quantity, color, finish and the like, also has ya freechoice of whether or not water-proofed paper is to be used.

A further advantage of my invention resides in the fact that the sheetmay be tinted or/and printed with a plurality of transparent colors.These colors, 'I have found, should preferably be printed in side byside registration rather than in superposition because the colors aretrans,- parent and are being printed on a transparent medium. In eiect,a transparency is being dealt with, and when dealing with a transparencythe colors if superposed are subtractlve and result first, in changingthe true color value; second, in darkening the area of superposition;thirdly, in reducing if not destroying the transparency of the wrapper;and fourthly, in blackening and spoiling the brilliancy of the colors.If instead the colors are printed on mutually exclusive areas, eachcolor retains its true color value, and the desired transparency andbrilliancy of the sheet are in no Way affected. Thus, referring to thedrawing and particularly Fig. 2 thereof, a sheet 2 of transparentregenerated cellulose paper may first be printed with a coating oftransparent color indicated at 4, which coating, however, does notextend over the area 6. This area may next be printed with a differenttransparent color, and no darkening or loss of transparency or change ofcolor effect will result. Instead, the entire area 6 being provided withthe second transparent color, a portion only may be printed, as isexemplified by the word Candy in Fig. l. Obviously, the entire surfaceof the sheet may be tinted with vertical or horizontal bars or othergeometric patterns in two or more transparent colors. The articlecontained in the wrapper will nevertheless be visible through thewrapper and in many cases its appearance may be improved by anappropriate selection of the tint or color used for the wrapper.

In many cases it is not essential that the entire sheet remain fullytransparent, and in such case superposition of printing may be usedinstead of side by side registration, thus greatly simplifying theproblem of accurate registration. Specifically, referring to the drawingand particularly to Fig. i thereof, the sheet l2 is tinted throughoutnearly all of its area, as is indicated at I4 except for a rectangularbackground I6 which is tinted with a color different from theJemainderof the sheet. The word Candy and the frame IB may be printed with athird color, the latter being superposed on the previously printedsheet. 'I'he tinting itl and the background area it are cut in, that is,located in side by side registration, as is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and4. The nal printing is the only one which might oier difiiculty inregistration, and this stage instead of being cut in is superposed, asis clearly evident in Fig. 4. This not only avoids the dlfculty ofregistration, but helps conceal any slight error in registration whichmay exist between the areas it and l 6. The only sacrifice oftransparency is the relatively small area covered by the lettering, andthis in many cases is negligible.

I have further found that transparent ink, particularly transparentlacquer color, is valuable not only for tinting a sheet wheretransparency is desired, as has already been described, but also forprinting in superposition on an opaque background, particularly a lightbackground such as White or yellow. I have found that thea transparentcolor if used for the final or top color, instead of merely coating thetop of the background like a layer of paint, penetrates through thebackground and acts as a dye serving to dye the background With itscolor. Thus, referring to Fig. 5, the transparent sheet is indicated at22. A layer of transparent color or tint is shown at 24, and a cut inbackground is shown at 26. Lettering similar to that indicated in Figs.l and 2 is superposed on the background 26, as is indicated at 28.However, in this case a transparent color, say,

red, is used for the lettering, and this penetrates through and dyes thebackground 26, as is indicated at 30. 'I'he result of this is to givethe color 28 a brilliant full-bodied effect superior to that obtainedwhen an opaque color is used. It is important to note that despite thetransparency of the color 28, its tone is not altered by the color ofthe background because the background is itself dyed to the new color.

This phenomenon, while valuable in connection with a light background asaforesaid, is particularly valuable in connection with an opaquemetallic background. If a wrapper is used to wrap an oil-bearingarticle, say, figs 4 or dates, and a white background is used on thewrapper, the oil even if it does not penetrate the sheet, severely marsand discolors the sheet because the presence of the oil on the inside ofthe sheet is visible from the outside of the sheet.v In other words, awhite area becomes blotched because the oil does not uniformly coat theback of the sheet but is distributed in a non-uniform manner and isvisible as a dncqloration even if it is attempted to make thewhiteb'ackground an opaque rather than a transparent background. I havefound that if this background'ls made metallic, say gold simulated bybronze, or silver` simulated by aluminum, the oil does not show throughand no discoloration or change in appearance takes place.

However, it is exceedingly diiiicult to print lettering on such ametallic background, for the surface of the metal is relatively roughand does not seem to take the superimposed color in an effective manner.I have found that if the iinal printing be made with transparent ink orcolor as aforesaid, the color tends to dye through even the metallicbackground and results in a brilliant finish which fully retains thebright color of the printing and at the same time retains the luster andreiiective iinish of the metallic background through the printing.

In each case, of course, the balance of the sheet may be and preferablyls tinted with a transparent color, and this color may be selected '1naccordance with the character of the goods being wrapped, so thatdisflguration by reason of the oily nature of the article will not bediscernible.

It is believed that the method of my invention, the article resultingtherefrom, and the many advantages thereof will for the most part beapparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. The method cftinting the transparent cellulose paper is applicable to any desiredquantity; may be used with any one or a plurality of colors or tints;and the tinting may be made solid or grained as desired.. The tintedsheet has improved moisture resistance and is non-adherent to adjacentsheets when stacked. Waterproofed sheets may be tinted when a pluralityof colors are used. The colors are preferably registered or cut in sothat each color retains its true color value and brilliancy, while thesheet retains its transparency color subtraction. Combinations ofregistration for large areas, with color-superposition for small areas,may be employed if convenient in any particular case. Transparent inkmay be used for tinting transparent areas ,on the Wrapper and may alsobe used for color superposition even on a non-transparent backgroundwhere it is desired to dye the background with a superposed color inorder to obtain an improved appearance; and this is particularlyadvantageous in connection with the use of a metallic background, whichin turn is valuable when wrapping oil-bearing articles.

It should be understood that the example of my invention hereillustrated is an exceedingly simple case selected by way of readyillustration of the principles of my invention, and in no way doesjustice to the beautiful appearance and effect which may be obtained inactual practice. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that it isexceedingly difficult to depict on a at black and White ink drawing theluster and transparent tinting as well as the brilliant lettering whichare obtained by my invention.

It will be apparent that while I have shown and described the method ofmy invention and a product resulting therefrom in illustrative forms,many changes and modifications may be made therein, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

l. A tinted blank or Wrapper' made of iustrous grease-proof transparentcellulose paper having colored printed matter, a differently coloredbackground area for said printed matter, the back- `without darkening byground area being printed directly on the transparent paper, the printedmatter being superimposed on the background area, and a portion of theremainder of said sheet being tinted by a coating of transparentcolorapplied directly to the surface of the sheet exclusive of the aforesaidbackground area.

2. A tinted blank or wrapper made of lustrous grease-proof transparentcellulose paper having colored printed matter, a metallic backgroundarea for said printed matter, the metallic background area being printeddirectly on the transparent paper, the coloredprinting being atransparent color superimposed on the background area, and a portion ofthe remainder of said sheet being tinted by a coating of transparentcolor applied directly to the surface of the sheet exclusive of theaforesaid metallic background area.

3. A blank or wrapper made of transparent celluloseA paper havingprinted matter and a printed background therebeneath, ythe printedbackground being rnetallic and opaque, and the printed matter thereonbeing made of a transparent color which penetrates and dyes thebackground therebeneath, resulting in a brilliant color.

4. The method of printing and tinting a blank or wrapper made oftransparent cellulose paper,

which includes printing a background area on a portion of the sheet,tinting only a. portion of the remainder of the sheet exclusive of thebackground area with a transparent lacquer color, and superimposingdesired printed matter on the background area.

5. The method of printing and tinting a blank or wrapper made oftransparent cellulose paper, which includes printing a background areaon a portion of the sheet, tinting only a portion oi' the remainder ofthe sheet exclusive of the background area with a transparent color, andsuperimposing desired printed` matter on the background area, saidsuperimposed printed matter being made of a transparent color whichpenetrates and dyes the background color therebe-l neath. j i

6. The method of printing a blank or wrapper made of transparentcellulose paper intended to be wrapped around an oil-bearing article,which includes printing a background area with a metallic color, andsuperimposingI the desired printed matter on the background yarea bymeans of a transparent color which penetrates and dyes the metallicbackground area therebeneath.

IRVING GURWICK.

